University of Milan

Italy

The University of Milan, also known as “La Statale”, is one of the most important Italian academic institutions. Founded in 1924, the university currently has 11 faculties and schools and 33 departments, which are remarkably interdisciplinary in their approach, covering all ERC sectors: social sciences and humanities, physical and mathematical sciences, and life sciences. The university offers 76 undergraduate programmes, 64 master’s degree programmes, 33 doctoral programmes, more than 75 vocational masters and more than 65 postgraduate schools. The total number of enrolled students in the academic year 2020/2021 is about 63,000. The University of Milan is well positioned in leading international rankings, both for the quality and the productivity of its research, and it regularly ranks highly among Italian universities.

The “Giovanni Degli Antoni” Department of Computer Science, whose origins date back to the late ‘60s, is currently the largest department in Italy dealing with computer science and technologies, with a staff body comprised of about 100 professors and researchers.

The Laboratorio di Informatica Musicale (LIM, Music Informatics Laboratory), officially established in 1985, is one of the earliest labs of the department and it represents a reference point for sound and music computing in Italy.

The Laboratorio di Informatica Musicale

LIM assets include a research lab (approx. 100 m²), a silent booth, and a large acoustically insulated room with reconfigurable internal acoustics. The lab is equipped with dedicated instrumentation, including devices for the digitization and restoration of analogue audio materials, MIDI chains, and electronic musical instruments.

Thanks to the specific know-how of its members, LIM actively supports the academic programmes of the Department of Computer Science, and specifically, the bachelor’s degree in Music Information Science, the major in Music Informatics of the master’s degree in Computer Science and the sound and music computing curriculum of the PhD in Computer Science.

Role in SONICOM

In the framework of the SONICOM project, the staff of LIM at University of Milan focuses on spatial audio (WP1), looking at AI HRTF modelling, spatial hearing perception, and real/virtual blending. LIM leads the research of Task 1.3a – “Real/Virtual Acoustic Matching”.

Team members

Federico Avanzini is an Associate Professor at the Department of Computer Science. His main research interests include algorithms for sound synthesis and processing, and 3D sound rendering, with applications to such domains as assistive technologies, virtual musical instruments, digital cultural heritage, and digital learning. He has been the principal investigator and scientific responsible of the EU as well as national and industry funded projects. He is currently serving as Associate Editor for the journal Acta Acustica, Conference Coordinator in the permanent Steering Committee of the Sound & Music Computing Conference and Summer School and is the President of the Italian Music Informatics Association (AIMI).

Goffredo Haus is a Full professor at the Department of Computer Science. He has carried out research in the field of computer science applied to music, audio, and multimedia. He has been one of the pioneers of sound and music computing research in Italy. He is the Scientific Director of the Laboratory of Music Informatics and the Vice-Rector for Digital Innovation, ICT Services, Strategic, and Special Projects of the University of Milan.

Luca A. Ludovico is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Computer Science. Expert in the fields of multi-layer representation of music information, technology-supported music education, and promotion of intangible cultural heritage through digital technologies. He is the Vice-Chair of the IEEE Working Group for XML Musical Application and member of the CINI Lab for Artificial Intelligence and Intelligent Systems, MIDI Association, and W3C Music Notation Community Group.

Stavros Ntalampiras is an Associate Professor at the Department of Computer Science. He has carried out research and/or didactic activities at Politecnico di Milano, the Joint Research Center of the European Commission, the National Research Council of Italy and Bocconi University. Currently, he is an Associate Editor of IEEE Access, IET Signal Processing, CAAI transactions on intelligent technology and PLOS One journals, as well as a member of the IEEE CIS Task Force on Computational Audio Processing. His research interests include content-based signal processing, audio pattern recognition, bioacoustics, machine learning, and cyber-physical systems.

Giorgio Presti is an Adjunct Professor at the Department of Computer Science. He carries out research in the field of Sound and Music Computing, specialising in the creation of new digital tools for music signal analysis and production. His work is aimed at exploring the natural phenomena from which the music experience emerges: from the physics of sound to the most elusive aspects of the mind. He is also a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts of Brescia and is a sound designer, author of interactive multimedia installations and electroacoustic performances, exhibited in museums, art galleries, and public events of artistic and scientific dissemination.

Website Links